Helen Blair, Potter, Helen Blair Ceramics
Leaving art college in Blackpool and moving to London was the beginning of my career for the next 25 years as a magazine designer and art editor working in many of the London publishing houses.
Pottery was a much-loved hobby for many years while I worked and raised a family until I realised I was ready to take it further. Renting a shared studio space in the lovely Parade Mews Pottery in Tulse Hill was my next step and where I became more drawn to the idea of full time potting.
Although I loved the community there, I also need my own space when I'm working, and after a few years, life gave me the push I needed. Covid happened! I was unlucky enough to lose all my design work pretty much overnight, but also lucky enough to have a partner who, along with a wonderful friend, built me a garden studio, and I took the big step to buy a kiln and a wheel and start a new life.
This is my first year running Helen Blair Ceramics, and I'm slowly finding my way and my aesthetic voice. My life and career have been about colour, shape, space, and design from art college to now, which all comes together now in my work with clay. I feel I'm still a designer, but my medium now is clay and glaze rather than paper and ink.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Instagram, because it feels almost like a portfolio of my work. And I can connect to potters all over the world so easily.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
Currently, I am working on keeping my palette broad, just going with each piece I throw and experimenting with my palette of glazes to see how I can use the colours I have and know in different ways. Layering glazes, mark making and throwing different forms.
My pieces are all-wheel thrown stoneware, and my next challenge is to throw larger pieces. Alongside making, I also want to focus on how to arrange my working week to be able to take more classes and pottery sessions as they are an important part of my ongoing plan.
I'm hoping to buy a second wheel soon, which will give me more teaching options.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Being able to take something I've loved doing for so many years to the next stage and trying to make a career from it is incredibly exciting. Of course, each day is different, with huge challenges when things go wrong, but it really is the best feeling when I open the kiln and the alchemy has worked.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
My motivation is seeing how proud my family are of what I'm doing. Being able to involve them in my work and show them my latest pieces is a joy. Also, planning a piece of work, throwing it, glazing it and then waiting for it to come out of the second firing as a finished piece is incredibly exciting because so many things can go wrong along the way. Finally, opening my kiln after a successful firing is the best feeling.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Having the courage to start a new venture and change my career. I'm also very proud of my work.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
Taking part in local craft markets is a lovely way to meet other makers and swap selling tips. But, I love when people come into my studio to buy directly from me as each piece I make and sell has a story, and I love to know where it's going and who will hopefully be enjoying it.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
My career in design has definitely helped me find a style for my work, and I've realised that being very self-critical drives me on.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
How to do spreadsheets and how to avoid getting potters backache!
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
In business, it has to be my parents for being out there at the beginning of the organic movement and changing their market garden at a time when people thought they were cranks. They were brave and incredibly hard-working. A wonderful example of how to behave in life and business.
On the creative side, I love many potters, but I have to say David Hockney because I always feel inspired by his work, his use of colour, and his freedom to experiment and change.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I'm lucky enough that my ceramic life is my work and my hobby, so it seems to have taken over lately. Any spare time is always happiest spent with good friends eating good food. Oh, and walking my naughty Border Terrier.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
My business started because of the pandemic. During the first lockdown, we were building my studio so totally immersed in that which seemed to keep us all busy and gave us a focus.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Starting off in a shared studio is a great way to find out if this is your passion and if it is something you want to take further. Running your own studio isn't just the making process. It involves a lot of cleaning, organising, paperwork and dealing with customers. So, be prepared for the realities of a business as well as the joy of making.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Maybe I should answer this in another year to say I have succeeded!
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"Don't sweat the small stuff." - George Carlin.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
I admire lots of the small start-ups I see on Instagram. Companies that focus on being environmentally aware, reducing packaging, and using natural ingredients where possible. For example, a company called 'Wild' makes natural deodorants and they smell amazing. They've got it all right, in my opinion.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
I'm not sure yet. I guess it's when I'm in my studio throwing my pieces and not worrying about my bank balance all the time. So, my advice is to do as much research as possible about selling your work as I'm still learning as I go.